Rail contact-shoe and support therefor



N0. 751,974. PATENTED FEBrQ, 1904.

A i G. W. BRADY L. R. JONES. I

RAIL OONTAOT SHOE AND SUPPORT THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 13, 1903.

HO MODEL.

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, .Zwfelzceliafoiaea UNITED STATES Patented February 9, 1904. l

PATE T OFFICE.

GEORGE WV. BRADY AND LAWRENCE R. JONES, OF VVHEATON, ILLINOIS.

RAIL CONTACT-SHOE AND SUPPORT THEREF OR. V

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 751,974, dated February9, 1904. Application filed April 13, 1903. Serial No. 152,292. (Ilamodel.)

To all whom" it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. BRADY and LAWRENCE R. JONES, of Wheaton,in the county of Dupage and State of Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Rail Contact-Shoes and Supports There-for;and we hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification.

()ur invention has for its primary object to provide a rail contact-shoeand support therefor for use on third-rail electric railways adapted forand capable of automatic adjustment relative to the rail and car tocompensate for varying conditions encountered in its use.

In the use of an elongated third-rail contactshoe adapted to straddleand partly embrace the head of a third rail it is found that in spanningan arc of a curve in the rail such strain is thrown upon the straddlingsides as to fracture them; and it is with a view to providing astructure adapted to overcome this difficulty as one object that ourinvention is designed. Again, it is found desirable in order to maintainproper contact of the shoe with its rail at all times that the shoeshould beso suspended from the car that it is capable of movement in alldirect-ions relative'thereto while normallydefinitely related to thecar; and our invention further has for an object the provision of meansfor attaining this desideratum.

WVith a view to attaining these and further objects which will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art our invention consists in thefeatures of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fullydescribed, and specified in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a contact-shoe andsupport embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same.Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of one of the frame-adjusting springsdetached.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals of reference refer to like parts,we have illus trated our invention as embodied in a structure includingsome of the features of invention set forth and described in our pendingapplication, filed January 20, 1903, serially numbered 140, 468, andreference is made thereto for details of construction of the shoeproper; but it will be apparent that our invention might be embodied inother forms of shoes than the specific one herein illustrated forpurposes of full disclosure, and we do not desire to be understood aslimiting ourselves to such specific form. r

5 indicates theyoke portion of a contactshoe body, having dependingsides 6, preferably slightly divergent and adapted to straddle the headof a conductor-rail, said parts together forming an elongated member ofsubstantially inverted-U. shape in cross-section.

' 7 is a contact-block arranged between the depending sides 6 of theshoe-body, above the lower edges thereof, and adjustably supported inposition by screws 8. i

9 9 indicate parallel longitudinal ribs extending, preferably, theentire length of the shoe and projecting from the top thereof.

In order to render the shoe proper yielding to the strains imposedthereon in rounding curves and the like, one or both of the sidesthereof are made movable and are held in normal position under springtension. herein illustrated both of the depending sides 6 6 as soconstructed; but, if preferred, only one side might be so arranged.

5 and 6, Fig. 1, indicate complementary hinge-joint portions of the yokepart 5 and side 6, traversed longitudinally by a pivot-pin 10. Suitablespring devices are interposed between the pivoted sides and therelatively stationary yoke, such devices being illustrated by a spring11, of general U shape, suitably secured to the web 9 of the part 5 ofthe shoe by bolts 12. The springs 11 are arranged to exert a constantpressure upon the outside surfaces of the hinged side portions 6 of theshoe, tending to maintain them at their inward limit of movement.Suitable stop devices are provided to limit the inward movement of thesides, in the present instance the contactblock 7 serving the purpose ofthe stop. It will be apparent that under conditions which impose strainsupon the sides of the shoe tending to separate the same, as in roundingcurves, one or both of the said side pieces will yield outwardly againstthe tension of the springs to prevent the breakage of the shoe and thatWe have as soon as the strain is removed the sides will return to normalposition under the spring tension.

13 13 indicate pairs of companion links connected in parallelism to theopposite ends of the respective ribs 9 by transverse pivot-pins 1 1,secured by suitable cotter-pins 15.

16 16 indicate transverse pivot-rods connecting the upper extremities ofthe pairs of pivoted links 13, said rods being suitably secured inposition relative to the links, as by cotter-pins 17 18 18 aresupporting-links in the lower ends of which the rods 16 are slidablymounted and at their upper ends provided with elongated slots 19,whereby they are adapted for adjustable connection with a suitable partof a car or car-truck or body. (Not herein shown.)

Suitable springs, such as the leaf-springs 2O 20, are interposed betweenthe link 18 and the side links13, tending to maintain the parts in adefinite relation, but arranged to yield in either direction. Theleaf-springs 20 are illustrated as secured at their lower ends to theopposing links 13 by suitable screws 21, said springs convergingupwardly to bear against the opposite sides of suspensionlinks 18. Theupper ends of the springs 20 are prefer: ably longitudinally slotted, asindicated at 22 in Fig. 3, the bifurcated ends being arranged tostraddle the rods 16.

23 indicates a fragment of conducting-cable suitably connected to theshoe, as by clips 24, secured to one of the webs 9 by bolts 25.

The construction above set forth renders the shoe self-adjustable tovarying conditions of use. Any side swing of the car carrying with itthe suspension-links 18 causes said links to slide upon the rods16,compressing the springs 20 upon the side toward which said links moverelative to the shoe. As soon as the car returns to normal positionrelative to its conductor-rail the compression-springs 20 return thesuspension-links 18 to normal position, as will be well understood.Further, the parallel link connections set forth enable the shoe to beswung forward and back and up and down with reference to the pivots 16,so that any inequalities in the height of the conductor-rail and anynormal vertical movement of the car on its springs are compensated for.

Numerous other advantages incident to the use of a flexible connectionherein described will be apparent to those skilled in the art and neednot be expressed in detail.

While an operative embodiment of our invention is herein described insome detail, it will be apparent that many equivalent structuresdiffering more or less in construction from that herein set forth mightbe devised without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention,and we do not desire to be understood as limiting ourselves to the exactconstruction herein disclosed.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a rail contact-shoe, a horizontally-arranged body portion,depending sides pivoted to the lateral edges of said body, and acontactblock having divergent side faces arranged below the said bodyportion with its side faces disposed to limit the inward movement of thepivoted sides of the shoe.

2. In a rail contact-shoe, a horizontally-arranged body portion,depending sides pivoted thereto, springs arranged to press said sidesinward, and a contact-block carried by said body portion disposedbetween the pivoted sides and arranged to limit their inward movement.

3. In combination, a rail contact-shoe, parallel pairs of links pivotedto the opposite ends thereof, pivot-rods connecting the upperextremities of said links in pairs, suspensionlinks wherein said rodsare slidably mounted, and springs normally holding said parts inpredetermined relative positions under yielding tension.

4. In combination, a rail contact-shoe, parallel pairs of links pivotedto the opposite ends thereof, pivot-rods connecting the upperextremities of said links in pairs, suspensionlinks wherein said rodsare slidably mounted, and springs interposed between said pivoted linksand said suspension links, yieldingly holding said parts in definiterelation.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we affix oursignatures in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. BRADY. LAWRENCE R. JONES.

In presence of- RICHARD WINDE, ANDREW J. CHRISTIE.

